Men's Hoops Fends Off Eastern Kentucky, 75-62

BOX SCORE

MOREHEAD, Ky. -- Despite 20 turnovers, Morehead State's men's basketball team outscored visiting Eastern Kentucky 25-8 at the free throw line Monday night and evened the season series with a 75-62 dispatching of the Colonels at Johnson Arena.

Morehead State won its third straight game and improved to 4-4 overall and 1-1 in the OVC while staying perfect (4-0) at home in 2020-21. The visitors slipped to 5-2 overall and 1-1 in the league.

Junior guard KJ Hunt, Jr., came off the bench to ignite the Eagles to the tune of a career-high 17 points. He was one of four Eagles to score in double figures. A week after hitting 67 percent from the floor but falling at EKU, the Eagles nailed 51 percent (25-of-64) tonight and forced EKU into just a 4-for-25 performance from three-point range.

KEY MOMENTS

- MSU led 40-35 with 18:35 remaining in the game, but EKU guard Wendell Green scored seven consecutive points to give his team its only lead of the second half (42-40) with 16:65 left. However, buckets by Hunt, junior guard Skyelar Potter and senior James Baker keyed a 6-0 run and MSU never led again.
- After building as much as a 12-point cushion later, Green cut the Eagles' advantage to 65-58 with 4:18 left. But a pair of missed free throws by Tre King, followed by a two-pointer from Baker and a triple from junior guard DeVon Cooper, pushed the lead back to 12 (70-58).
- The Eagles opened the game on a 7-0 run (opposite of the game at EKU where the Colonels led 9-0 early). 
- Baker's layup with 15:13 left in the first half had the lead at 17-6.
- However, EKU used a 15-4 run over a nine-minute span to climb back into the game and only trailed 28-25 with 4:48 left in the half. King's dunk with 3:39 remaining in the period cut it down to a one-point MSU lead (30-29).
 

KEY STATS

- MSU was 25-of-32 at the free throw line, its most successful free tosses since hitting 25 in the OVC Tournament and season finale versus Tennessee State last year.
- Besides Hunt, the Eagles got double-digit scoring efforts from Potter (13), Baker (season-high 12) and sophomore guard Julius Dixon (11).
- The Eagles, ranking in the top two in the league in rebound margin, won that battle again tonight, 38-27.
- Freshman Johni Broome, this week's OVC Freshman of the Week, grabbed a team-high rebounds for the second straight game. 
- Potter nearLy had a double-double with a career-best eight rebounds. 
- King topped EKU's scoring chart with 17 points.
- Morehead State leads the OVC in blocked shots and rejected eight more shots tonight.

QUOTING COACH SPRADLIN

"Another great rivalry game tonight. We had just played a week ago, and obviously we didn't feel good about the ending of the game down there. Our guys had a real focus. It's always a game of runs because (EKU head coach) A.W. (Hamilton's) teams are hard to play against. We had 27 turnovers at their place and cut it down to 20 tonight. I thought our guys just really battled and played with poise. Defensively is where our team is going to hang our hat."

"I think you have to learn. Last time we were up 16 at the half but our guys knew then we had a lack of focus. We were ready this time. We knew they were going to keep fighting back. Our guys expected to maybe get a big lead and have to get it back."

"Those guys (Hunt and Baker) did a tremendous job. I really challenged James. Both of those guys, we brought them off the bench, and they didn't pout. They exerted great energy. We really attacked the back side of the press in the second half, and those two had a lot to do with our success doing that." 

UP NEXT

MSU is set to continue early league action Friday when SIUE visits for a 6 p.m. ET contest.